By My Side He Stayed
by Palmer Blu
Summary: Jeremy has fallen terribly ill and needs help desperately. With everyone out of his grasp he makes one phone call, but ends up being helped by the last person he expected to see. Thing is, Jeremy is curious why Tyler is doing this and where it may go.


**By My Side He Stayed**

_**A/N: So this a Jyler Oneshot that I have been working on. I hope that you all enjoy it! :-)  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the characters!  
Summary: Jeremy has fallen terribly ill and needs help desperately. With everyone out of his grasp he makes one phone call, but ends up being helped by the last person he expected to see. Thing is, Jeremy is curious why Tyler is doing this and where it may go.**_

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No one was anywhere to be found as the sickness began to take over. Elena was off with Stefan and Damon dealing with some kind of vampire business in another town. Alaric was out somewhere being completely useless. And Bonnie was out of town with her father doing some kind of family bonding. I was all alone and suffering. The fever had escalated to something fierce and the medicine wasn't really helping. I was hungry but too weak to get out of bed let alone roll over. I needed help and I needed it _now_. Otherwise I was going to starve or get brain damaged from the fever. Something had to give. Using what strength I did have I grabbed my phone and dialed the only person I knew who would be willing to help me. After three rings there was a voice on the line.

"Jer? What's wrong?" Matt's concern seemed to leak through the phone and it took me a moment before I could muster any words to come forth.

"Matt, I'm really sick. I need some help." My breathing became labored.

"How sick are you?"

"I can't even get out of bed right now. My body is too weak and I haven't eaten in like thirty-six hours."

"Well I'm at work now…but give me like thirty minutes to figure something out, okay?"

"Okay Matt. Thanks a lot." He sighed into the phone before he responded.

"No problem Jer. You're like a little brother to me so it's cool." After exchanging goodbyes we hung up and I dropped the phone back onto the bed. My eyes drifted shut and before I knew what was happening I could hear the front door closing. _Matt must be here. Has it really been thirty minutes? _I listened carefully. Waiting to hear the footsteps that I knew had to come up the stairs. But before I could catch the sound of Matt approaching I dosed off again. I don't know how long it was before I finally woke up but when I did I could smell something like soup. I cracked my eyes open and looked over to see a sight that I had not expected.

_I must be dreaming because this cannot be happening, right? _Sitting in a chair next to my bed was none other than Tyler Lockwood. He was looking down at the moment so he had not noticed that I was awake. Should I speak or pretend to still be sleeping. The decision was taken from me as he glanced up and his eyes met mine.

"Hey Jer, How are you feeling?" I was surprised to hear actual concern in his voice and did he just use my nickname? Something strange was happening. I felt like Alice after she had fallen through the rabbit hole.

"Still weak and hungry." My voice came out cracked and strained_. It seems as if I was getting worse._

"Well I made you soup. Chicken Noodle because I know that it is your favorite." He gave me a smile that I had rarely seen on his face and never directed at me. _How does he know what my favorite soup is?_

"Thanks." I attempted to sit up but couldn't find the strength. Tyler must have noticed my struggling because before I could ask for help he was at my side and helping me to sit up.

"Easy Jeremy. No need to strain yourself and make things worse." He grabbed the bowl and then looked at me with a puzzled yet amused look on his face. "Do you have the strength to feed yourself?"

I was shocked and it clearly showed because Tyler smiled in amusement and then raised an eyebrow as he awaited my answer. "Umm I'm not sure but I can try." It turns out that I could not feed myself and so I ended up blushing from embarrassment as Tyler fed me one spoonful after another of soup. When the bowl was empty he helped me take my medicine and then laid me back down. _Why is he doing this? More importantly why isn't he complaining about it?_

"Are you okay Jer?" I turned my eyes to him and before I could shake my head no I decided to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you need help and because I want to."

"We have never really been civilized with each other. So this is just kind of strange." He smiled.

"Yea we have had our differences, but that doesn't mean anything right now. Just let me help you, okay?"

"Fine." He laughed at that before he asked if I needed anything. I shook my head and then he was walking towards the door. He stopped right before he turned into the hallway and looked at me.

"Let me know if you need anything. I will be downstairs. Try to get some rest and if you need anything, and I mean anything Jer, if I don't hear you yell out call my cell, okay?" I could only nod because I was too taken aback by the concern and care that was gleaming in his eyes. He actually did have a soft spot for me. _No Jeremy you are just sick and probably hallucinating. Go to sleep and get it together._

I closed my eyes and tried very hard to dose off. But sleep evaded me. My mind was fighting against my body. My body was screaming that it was exhausted, but my mind was fighting valiantly to stay awake. My mind wondered through various different ideas and topics and eventually it settled on Tyler. It settled on focusing on the way that his eyebrows seemed to furrow whenever he was trying to concentrate, the crooked smile that he would give unless he was giving that smile that he used when he was trying very hard to remain serious, and the deep brown of his eyes. His pronounced jawline and the pronounced crook in his nose. _Get a grip Gilbert. You cannot be thinking about Tyler….at least not in those ways. He is straight. As straight as they come. There is no hope for you two, at all._ That was true. There was no way that Tyler and I could end up together, but I still couldn't help but think of what life with Tyler by my side would be like. The constant back and forth as we fought for dominance. The horsing around due to his playful nature. And the comfort that he would give me whenever I needed him with me. Strangely I yearned for all of those things and more. But could Tyler really give them to me?

Before I could ponder the issue any further my body gave a sharp shiver that made my breathe catch in my throat. Once the shiver passed I released that breathe that I was holding, thinking that the chill had passed. Boy was I wrong. The shivers racked through my body one after another knocking the breath out of me and leaving me gasping for air. Tears welled in my eyes but I refuse to cry right now. I needed to call Tyler. I needed some kind of help otherwise who knows what would happen to me. I grabbed my cell from beside me and dialed the last number that I thought I would ever use. The phone barely completed its first ring when Tyler answered.

"Hello?" I tried to tell him that I needed him but another shiver ran through my body. They were starting to feel more like convulsions than shivers and I was completely frightened. "Jer, what's up? Jeremy? Jeremy!" The line went dead just as I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs towards my bedroom and as another convulsion hit me Tyler burst into my room. The look of complete horror on Tyler's face as I writhed around on the bed confirmed that I was in big trouble if we didn't do something.

"Jeremy can you speak?" I tried only to gasp out of shock as it started again and again. The chill was getting worse and the shivers were coming closer together. I finally couldn't take it anymore and the tears fell free and littered my face. "Jeremy I need to get you out of these clothes, okay." All I could do was nod my acknowledgement. Tyler moved the cover aside and quickly and effortlessly lifted my upper body and removed my shirt. Slowly he went lower. I felt his fingers glide over my stomach and there was a slight tingle but I couldn't dwell on the sensation as my body curled into itself in an attempt to adjust to the uncomfortable convulsions.

"Hang on Jer." Tyler slowly removed my pajama bottoms and then he slowly undressed himself. That one caught me off guard.

"What the h-hell are you doing?" Another convulsion hindered my ability to finish the sentence with perfect disdain and shock.

"Trying to give you heat. Now just calm down and trust me."

"Trust you? _Trust you!_ You have used me as a human punching bag for as long as I can-"

"Damn it Jeremy just let me help you!" The words were growled and I had shut up as soon as he had started speaking. Soon he was in nothing but his boxers and he climbed under the covers with me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer until my back was flush with his chest. His warmth was immediately noticeable as we laid there. My shivers calmed down and soon the only movement between the two of us was the steady rising and falling of our chests. I could feel Tyler's breath on the nape of my neck and I became instantly conscious of the fact that we were both in nothing but our boxers. Due to the fact that my mind was currently preoccupied it took me a moment to realize that Tyler was humming. The sound was familiar but I couldn't seem to place the name of the song. After about two minutes of Tyler humming the same melody I felt like there was something that I needed to say.

"I'm sorry." Tyler got quiet.

"What are you talking about Jeremy?"

"I'm sorry for putting you through this. I'm sorry that y-you had to be h-here and go t-through this." There were tears running down my face. Tyler shifted slightly so that he could barely turn me so that I was looking up into his brown eyes.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You can't help that you got sick. Besides this…" He paused to kiss me briefly. When he pulled back he had a small smile on his face. "This is exactly where I want to be. Now that you seem okay I guess I better get up so that you can get some sleep."

"No!" I blushed as he paused and smiled down at me. "Please stay."

He settled back onto the bed and pulled me back against him. "I will always stay by your side Jer, as long as you will have me." I smiled as he kissed the nape of my neck and then I allowed sleep to claim me.

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**_A/N: Well I hope that you all enjoyed this little Jyler story. There may be a second part, but I'm not sure yet. If you would to read what happens next leave a review and I will surely get to work a sequel! Until next time! See ya later! :-)_**


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